


Sorry about your feet.

by phngi



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aromantic, Brotp, Canon Compliant, Enemies to Friends, Episode: s03e12 The Western Air Temple, Friendship, Gen, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Male-Female Friendship, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Western Air Temple, zuko tries his best dammit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:28:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24359605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phngi/pseuds/phngi
Summary: "Her head was tilted accusingly in his general direction with her coal-colored hair strewn haphazardly about her face as always. 'Are you gonna come help a blind lady or what?' "Platonic one-shot featuring two of my favorite characters in all of fiction. Comments welcome!
Relationships: Toph Beifong & Zuko
Comments: 12
Kudos: 493





	Sorry about your feet.

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place between S3E12 and S3E13, just after the events of The Western Air Temple. 
> 
> Written honor of A:TLA finally being added to Netflix and our generation collectively reliving our nostalgia and love for this incredible story.

The first thing that told Prince Zuko he was awake was an unfamiliar, musty smell wafting into his nostrils. His consciousness stirred slowly into motion behind his closed eyelids as he took another great sniff, noticing that his chest felt unusually heavy as he did so. There was some kind of weight bearing down on him. Was it fatigue? Had his body finally crumbled once the adrenaline of chasing down the Avatar one last time had evaporated from his veins? Cracking his good eye open, the diagnosis was clear: a pair of bulbous green eyes belonging to the Avatar’s pet lemur peered back at him, inches away from the tip of his nose. He was so exhausted from the previous day's events that he resigned himself to glaring wordlessly back at the odd little animal, daring it to come closer to his face. It chirruped curiously. What was this thing’s name again? Mee-moo? Something childish like that, he couldn’t remember.

Several minutes passed before he finally sat up, pushed the lemur aside with an awkward shooing motion, and surveyed the sparse room. His blood-red Fire Nation tunic sat folded on top of his rucksack, looking as foreign as he felt, surrounded by the ancient digs of the Western Air Temple. Moss and overgrown tendrils that had thrived for at least a hundred years crept boldly along the dusty stone walls. There was hardly anything in the room itself apart from the bed and the table, though he supposed that it would have made sense for monks and nomads to live a life of austerity back then. The soft rumble of the sky bison lowing somewhere in the distance could be heard through his cracked window.

Zuko ran a calloused hand through his tousled hair impatiently and released a quiet sigh, taking inventory of himself for the day. He ticked off the facts on each finger as he thought of them. Little to no resources at hand and living in the dirt for the second time in his life. Wanted for treason by his mother country, for what he was sure Azula would tell the citizens was nothing more than a base, beastly attempt on their dear father's life. And of course, he was guilty of abandoning his childhood sweetheart who was likely sharpening her knives at the very thought of his desertion. That one stung. As for being accepted into the Avatar’s group, that appeared to be at least a tentative success.

If there were any doubts in his mind that this was the inevitable choice, they didn’t matter very much at this point. He traced the ridges on the bottom of his scar absently with his thumb. Going home without the Avatar victorious would mean certain death, and frankly, it seemed that making any wrong moves here would have the same result if the water tribe girl had anything to say about it. 

_“...give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang, and you won’t have to worry about your destiny anymore.”_

He drew his knees up and slumped forward moodily to rest his head on them. Not that he blamed her. It had taken days of rehearsing before a local badgerfrog audience to even come up with a passable apology speech - and even then he’d botched most of it, burning the blind girl to boot. _One_ reason to think he might hurt someone? The sinking feeling in his stomach flooded his body until his bones felt hollow and his limbs felt numb. 

He shot a furtive look through his dark, messy bangs at the portrait of his uncle that he’d placed on the table last night. Unsurprisingly, the sinking feeling worsened. He groaned and knocked his forehead angrily against his kneecaps three times and rested it there again, sitting silent and still. Not too long ago, he probably would have sought someone or something to berate, burn, or break in frustration; but now, he was just tired. After some time, he sucked in a deep inhale down to his diaphragm and raised his gaze again on the exhale, steeling himself.

Swinging his legs around the edge of the cot, he stood up to bow low in the direction of his uncle’s picture. As he bent over, a different kind of discomfort seized his stomach. He straightened up and looked over at the lemur who was now perched on the windowsill, merrily chewing a handful of berries. He raised an eyebrow. 

“You wouldn’t be interested in sharing some of that with me, would you?” 

It blinked and threw him an offended look.

“Yeah,” he conceded, posture drooping again. “I probably wouldn’t either.”  
  


* * *

  
When he stepped outside into the courtyard, it wasn’t too long past dawn by the look of the light. The morning’s air was thin and crisp at this altitude, the kind that made his airways tingle if he inhaled too quickly. A perpetual breeze sighed and lilted, fragrant with the scent of the mountain trees that rimmed the temple grounds. He glanced around corners nervously as he considered which method of asking for breakfast was least likely to make the water tribe siblings want to break his fingers, but as luck would have it, the place was unpopulated save for a few small animals darting about. 

Inhaling slowly again, he wandered over to the fountain and sat on its ledge. The flow of his breathing felt good, even calming. Into the lungs, simmered in the pit of his stomach, and then released back up through the body like rising lava. It was the foundation of firebending, as Uncle Iroh would always remind him whenever he rushed too quickly through the stances to the flash and flare at the end. He reached into the fountain with cupped hands, splashed water onto his face, and scrubbed vigorously. Then he wiped his eyes dry with his sleeve.

Just as he was considering how much of an offense it would be to roast one of these woodland animals for a good meal, an irregular scuffling sound caught his attention. He snapped his head around and leapt lithely to his feet, standing at attention as he surveyed the scene. The sound got louder, seeming to come from one of the arched doorways, and this time it was accompanied by familiar cranky murmuring.

“Stupid - idiot - could have just said hello - _ugh_ \- wait, is that a step? - _oww…_ ”

He took an instinctive step forward and the scuffling immediately paused. 

“...HEY! Princey, is that you?!”

Relief and concern spread over his face simultaneously. “Um...yes?”

“Well, what are you just standing around for?” A scowling Toph edged gingerly into the light. She was half-crouching and dragging one hand behind her along the wall for support while patting the ground in front of her with the other, listening to the earth. Her head was tilted accusingly in his general direction with her coal-colored hair strewn haphazardly about her face as always. “Are you gonna come help a blind lady or what?”

“S-sorry!” he yelped and hurried over to her like a hog-monkey with a singed tail. 

She grinned as he approached. “It’s hard to believe you used to be the terror of the Avatar if you scare like that. Relax. You can’t expect me _not_ to give you a good hazing.” His face fell as he caught a glimpse of her feet, still abnormally red and tender with the skin peeling. 

“I’m sorry about your feet, again,” he said seriously, head bowed. “I panicked. But I know that doesn’t make it okay.”

“Yeah. But I get it - it was an accident and I’m just glad the others gave in, in the end. I was starting to think they were seriously going to pass up the only firebending teacher we have.”

He nodded. “Are you able to put your weight on your feet?”

“Not much...Katara’s healing took most of the pain away but they’re still pretty sore. I was trying to come out here so I could put my feet in the water. So, how about you make like a prince and carry me over there?” she said with a playful smirk.

Embarrassed, he quickly knelt to place a hand on her back and - with the briefest of uncertain pauses - an arm under her legs, lifting her easily. She was certainly light enough, being as short as she was. He placed her gently on the fountain ledge and sat down on her left as she immediately dipped her feet into the bubbling pool and wiggled her bare toes. 

Toph sighed loudly with relief and cracked several joints in her neck and back in quick, practiced succession. “Ahhh. That hits the spot. Thanks,” she said cheerfully. “So what’s wrong?”

“Wrong?”

“My feet might be damaged but I can still sense the vibrations in the earth through my hands and the rest of my body. Your heartbeat is all over the place, it’s practically saying ‘I’m freaking out Toph, please help me’.”

“I...that’s...amazing,” he said, genuinely impressed and somewhat amused as he watched her smile smugly at his comment.

“I guess you’re not as good of a liar as your sister. That’s a good thing,” she assured him, sensing his immediate discomfort. “I wouldn’t really recommend lying now that you’re one of the good guys. Not that that stops me. So what’s going on, _your Highness_?” The water rose and fell in gentle waves as she pedaled her feet playfully.

He stared sidelong at her with immense apprehension, feeling guiltily thankful that she couldn’t look directly back at him. Was there any point in skirting the issue with a human lie detector? 

“...I don’t...know how to get the rest of them to look past what I’ve done,” he answered finally. “Yesterday was one thing, but to really be teaching the Avatar - I mean, Aang - I need everyone to trust me. I know I can’t take back what I’ve done, and I’ve given all of you more than enough reason to hate me. But I want to keep proving that I meant what I said about wanting to help restore balance to the world.” Looking into the fountain, he examined his distorted reflection sporting the trademarks of the royal family - the high brow, the pallid hue, eyes the color of hardened amber - along with four shades of angry crimson spattered across his left eye. “I guess I just don’t know how to show it.”

“But you _did_ mean it, didn’t you.” Her tone was challenging and blunt. It wasn’t a question.

He narrowed his eyes. “I did, but - “

“‘But’ nothing, Zuko. You’re here. You betrayed your whole country and your family because you knew it was the right thing to do. You knew this was more important.” In her mind, she pictured the old man who had offered her tea by the roadside, cashing in all his cares and prayers for that hopeless, lost nephew of his. Her expression softened briefly. 

“Look,” she snapped, jabbing a finger in his face all of a sudden. He flinched backward on instinct and gaped at her quizzically. “Don’t get me wrong. They’re my friends - it’s not like I’m thrilled about what’s happened between you guys either.” She lowered her hand. “But the fact of the matter is you’re exactly who we need right now, who _Aang_ needs right now - which means the world needs you. And they know it, too. They’ll come around, if you face up to the big ole elephant-koi in the room.”

“What do you mean?”

She cocked her head to one side and frowned. “Well, you can’t just dance around the fact that they don’t like you and hope it goes away if you keep talking about saving the world like a good little boy. And you can’t just get aggressive and fire punch them into submission, either. If you ask me, you’ve got to tackle their issues with you, personally. Head. On.” Each word was punctuated with a smack as she punched her right fist firmly into her open left palm. “It's like how Twinkle Toes was complete trash at earthbending when I first started teaching him. The airbender in him wanted to find some fancy trick to get around stuff when it really came down to him being able to look a boulder in the face, and meet it. It looks to me like you’ve got to do the same thing. Get in there, get your hands dirty, and tunnel through it.”

Zuko looked up past the temple structures into the vastness of the open sky, hoping some divine inspiration would fall out of it. It stared back at him. “I’m not really a people person,” he said lamely after a while.

“Hey, I’m not asking _you_ to be the great bridge between worlds here. Just get to know each of us, and show everyone we can depend on you.”

“...How did you do it? When you joined them.” He was still looking up glumly. 

Bursting into snort-filled giggles, she threw her head back and stretched her arms over her head. “Me? Oh man, it was _rough_. I couldn’t wait to get away from living under my parents, but believe me, I was ready to strangle these guys so many times. I mean, when Aang and Katara gang up it’s like being drenched in candy and turtle ducks - they’re always sick-sweet and preachy about _everything_. And they yelled at me plenty, too. I’m kind of a foul loudmouth,” she added proudly. “I even ran away from them, once."

"You did?" He frowned and thought of when he'd left his uncle after a spat during their time as Earth Kingdom refugees. He wondered if Iroh had suspected he'd run out on him again later.

"Yeah. We'd had a really big fight, and I guess in the middle of it, I didn't think it was worth it to stick around. But when I think about it now, we were all just really tired and cranky because your stupid sister was chasing us all night. No offense."

"None taken." 

"Anyway, it was a bad one, for sure. But then,” she continued, recalling the wise words of the old man. “I met this really smart person who reminded me how important it is to be there for people, even when they don’t want you to be. Even when you don't really know them. And how important it is to admit it when you need them, too. So I went back, and I think he was right. I mean, we still fight all the time, but I'm not going anywhere."

Something in her words felt familiar. For the first time in weeks, the garbled noise of his own sullen thoughts faded and settled as he thought yet again of his uncle. The corner of his mouth curved gently as a smile stole onto his visage, though he didn't notice it. Gulping another lengthy breath, he dropped his tensed shoulders down away from his ears slowly.

“Okay,” he agreed.

She twisted her torso to face him. “Listen, I'll give you the inside scoop. Aang’s a little kid but he’s always trying to be the mighty, noble Avatar so grudges aren’t really his thing. And Sokka’s always trying to prove he’s the leader but he’s actually pretty reasonable. It’s the overprotective Sugar Queen you’ll have to worry about the most - but she’s always finding something to be mad at me about too, so, you can just join the club. Do your thing, Zuko. Just be yourself.”

He felt a warm rush of gratitude but glanced back down at his reflection as he contemplated the platitude doubtfully. _Be yourself?_

“...Thank you.”

She waved a hand impatiently. “Alright, that’s enough sappy chatting for one morning. I’m starting to sound like Katara.” Drawing her legs out of the water, she reached a hand out to him imperiously. “Wanna find some grub? I didn’t need my earthbending to hear your stomach growling the whole time we’ve been talking.”

Blushing uncharacteristically, Zuko muttered his assent and took her hand, helping her to her feet. They began to walk back inside the temple together with Toph gripping his arm like a cane.

“Wait, was that what you were waiting around for? Someone to get you breakfast? Geez, you’d think you’d be a bit more assertive for someone who was royalty, Princey.” 

“Would you stop calling me that?”

She let go of his arm, balled her hand into a fist, and smacked him firmly on the back without missing a beat. 

“No." She seized his arm again and continued limping forward before he could muster a word. "See? You’re getting to know us already.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've always thought Toph and Zuko's friendship deserved more screentime and exploration, and I'd like to think that Toph would have given him the kind of blunt advice he needed as he was adjusting to his new mission in life. Their common pragmatism and cunning would have helped them see more eye-to-eye and even though they didn't need a life-changing field trip together to overcome past rifts, it would have been hella adorable.


End file.
